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The ordeal is over for the 49 rescued migrants after two weeks at sea. A new dossier sheds light on the horrors in Libya. The authorities in Barcelona have denied the Open Arms permission to sail and resume its rescue operations.

The new year begins as 2018 ended: 49 people, including women and small children, have been stranded at sea since December 22. Still no solution in sight, as frustration and tensions grown on board their ship.

Crimes of solidarity, migrant pushbacks, a new government, racist attacks, closed ports, a new bill on security immigration and the Global Compact. 2018 was a crucial year for Italy’s migration policies. As we prepare to write about the coming year, here are 12 of our best reads from 2018.

The ship Aquarius was forced to terminate rescue operations at sea; a former penicillin factory was evacuated in Rome; European institutions are stalling on immigration. Meanwhile two new reports show how Italy is increasingly hostile toward foreigners.

The Italian government has withdrawn from the Global Compact on migration. A young man from Gambia, Suruwa Jaithe, was killed in a fire at a makeshift camp in San Ferdinando. He was only 18 years old. Meanwhile, the Salvini bill is showing its effects, with 40,000 migrants forced out of reception centres.

After being accused of collusion with human traffickers, the migrant rescue vessel chartered by MSF and SOS Méditerranée has been seized under charges of illegal waste treatment. Evidence of systematic torture of migrants in Libya have emerged from trial documents.